Machine for finishing paper



Feb. 28,1928. 1,660,978

w J. SPEEDv MACHINE FOR FINISHING PAPER original FiledAprn 2.' 192e s, Y, N

Lnnlululumnumul L-rr' r-r"\ k I s e J' INVENTOR,

S Q I BY Q l Q ATTORNEYS.

viii

Patented Feb. 28,1928. y

"UNITED STATES 1,660,976 PATENT OI-FICIIL JAMES SPEED, or SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, AssrGNon To STRATHMOEEPAPEB coMrANY, A coRPoaATIoN F MASSACHUSETTS.

i MACHTNE Fon FINISHING PAPER.

y Applicationmed April 2, 192e, serial No. `99,361. Renewed August s, 1927.

finishing paper although, as Willbe shown,v

it discloses many advantages over either kof said former processes. t

In its general aspect, the aim of the invention is the provision of means for imparting a large variety of fancyfinishes to any of the usual papers upon which such a iinish is desirable from the thin tissue used as a liner for envelopes to heavy card board for display purposes` and including *fancy f writing papers, greeting cards, photograph mounts, wall papers and the like.

Heretofore, such fancy finishes of ythe character under consideration havebeen imparted by the plating methodfor modifications thereof, and by embossing machines.

By the plating method, the' paper to'be fin ished is laid between im rint members or markers (in the case of a lnen finish sheets of linen would be used as such markers) and la pile of such associated-sheets of paper and markers, with sheets of metal such as zinc interspersed at intervals and on the top and bottom of the pile, is made up into what is known as a form or book. This form is passed one or more times between rollers of a suitable machine for exerting a heavy pressure thereonl and thereby transfers an impression from the markersupon the adjacentsurfaces of the paper sheets.

As may be desired, ,one or both sides `of a sheet of paper may be finished in this manner and the character of the finish may bo as varied as the markers employed. The plating methodgives a character of finish demanded for certain grades of writing papers. This finish differs from that imparted by steel embossing rolls in that the impression is less sharply cut and therefore softer.` In ,1 embossing, .the hard cut impression from an engraved metal rolluponone side of a sheet of paper is necessarily the reverse of what appears upon the othersideof the sheet dueto the fact that the material pf the paper is actually displaced or offset 1n the form of the pattern; Because of the unyielding character of the imprinting sur-` face, it would be utterly impractical to attempt te emboss 4both sides of a sheetwlth independent impressions not wholly compleAV mentary of one another. In lating, on the other hand, the flexible and yielding character of the markers allows both sides of a sheet to be simultaneously impressed with what appears to be a` similar design. In-

steadofoflsetting the material of the paper inone direction only as in embossing, the plating process imparts its design either by extra compression, lack of compression Lor partial offsettingin either direction, all `dependingpn whether high or low spots or modifications thereof lie opposite one an other on the marking elements. Thefiexible markers and intervening sheet of paper give and take from one another, so to speak, under the pressure of the rolls and very 'desirable two tone effects will result from the variations in thickness produced therebyin the finished sheet. i

One of the chief objections to the plating process lies in the expense and delay in making up and taking down the books or forms, all of `which necessarily must be done by hand', while embossing machines can be operated continuously on sheets or on a web of paper without the necessity of making up a 4book or form and thus may have a far greater rate `of production than the plating machine. However, finishing by steel engraved embossing rolls, while faster and less expensive in operation, is considerably more limited in the variety of effects obtainable than the plating process and involves, furthermore, the initial expense of the embossing rolls which makes frequent changes oi' Vpattern a matter of prohibitive cost.

' By means of the present invention, a plat# ing effect is obtained with the productive capacity of embossingrolls and at little or no ,cost forv change of rolls when different finishes are desired." This is accomplished by employing a pair of hard metal rolls (preferably chilled iron) in rotatin engage- `ment under heavy pressure and a aptedto have travel through the nipthereof the paper to be finished. According, as it may be desired to `finish one or both sides of the paper, Aone `or bothof said metal rolls are coveredwith a marking element or imprinting sheet; The `character of this marking element and its manner of attachmentto the metal roll constitute most important features of the present invention.' `In order to function in giving the desired finish of platin the marking element "must be ef a flexible nature; in other words, similar to the mark ing elements used in plating and to prevent destruction of this flexible element under the heavy working pressures of the rolls, it should be attached so that lin effect it becomes an integral part of the roll itself.

The. marking element may be a sheet of linen, burlap, canvas, felt, card board, semihard rubber, Celluloid, leather or other flexible composition of uneven thickness 0r density so as to Vimprint an impression upon .the paper to be finished. The vessential limitations in the character of the marking element are that it shall not be as unyielding and hard as the surface of a metal embossing roll, and shall not be so soft as not to leave any impression in the paper. Between these Wide limitsan almost innumerable variety of materials may be selected for use as a marking element and the specific examples named above are mentioned as illustrative. The marking element should be suitably attached to the roll by adhesively securing it at all points, preferably by glue or cement, to the periphery of the roll. lt is most cssential that the marking element be secured in a manner to preventany possible slip or creep between the relatively soft marking element and the hard surface of the metal rolls. Should by any chance. such a slip occur, immediate destruction of the compara- Vtively fragile marking element would take place under the grinding action of the heavy pressure hard metal rolls. The marking element may be as thick as a heavy woolen lblanket Vand in fact such a marking element has been successfully employed. Then of tougher or more stable material, even thicker marking elements could be used and the only limitation as to thickness would be its capability of withstanding the grinding action of .the hard pressure rolls without being torn off the rolls. l

In this connection, it should be noted that the coacting rolls must be positively driven by such gearing connections as will ,accurately insure the saine peripheral speed for both rolls. Any appreciable frictional action between the surfaces of the rolls would, of coursedestroy the marking elements pai# ticularly under the heavy pressures preferably employed in working the rolls. Also, the manner of applying the marking element by gluing on a sheet as an integral part of the roll may provide for a continuous uninterrupted working surface around the entire :periphery of the roll. The rolls may .thus run smoothly together without violent v strains on the bearings as would be caused .by an interruption in the surface, and the paper may be linished without any noticeable mark being caused by the ends of the marking element.

Having called attention in the foregoing to some of the important considerations affecting the invention, a preferable embodiment thereof will now be particularly described.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Referring more particularly to said drawings, land 2 indicatev the side frame members of a machine analogous to that of a calender. Rolls 3 and l have their trunnions carried in bearing boxes 5 and 6 for the upper roll 1- and 7 and 8 for the lower roll 3, and the bearing boxes are slidably mounted inthe usual manner in slotted guideways of the side frame members. The bearing boxes 7 and 8 rest at the bottoni of the slotted guideways or against some appropriate stop while the upper bearing boxes are hung from screw stems one in each side frame as shown at 9 in Fig. 2. The upi er end of each screw stem such as 9 has fixed thereto a han'dwheel 10 for operating the same in the usual inanner so that the bearing boxes 5 and G for the upper roll may be raised and lowered and thus the coacting pressure of the roll 4 on roll 3 suitably adjusted. As before stated, this coacting pressure is in the order of several tons, say live to ten tons per square inch of engaged surface. v

The rolls 3 and l are connected together by positive gearing to insure the saine -peripheral speed for both rolls and, as shown, gear 14 connected to the shaft of roll 4 meshes with gear 15 on shaft of roll The upper roll 4 is driven through gear 11 from a pinion 12 of power shaft 13 having a suitable belt pulley 13 thereon. A belt pulley such as 15.011 other suitable driving means 'is provided to receive power from an appro! priate source.

A delivery table 17 upon which issupported the paper to be finished (a pile of such paper sheets being indicated at 18) is at the front of the machine and a receiving'table 19 is at the rear of the machine. 2O indi- Se Y lsu

cates a sheet feeding device for applying the v individual paper sheets to the nip of the rolls 3 and 4 and comprises a series of shortendless belts 21 traveling around pulleys 22 and positioned properly to engage a sheet fed from the top of the pile 18 by an operator. It will be understood, however, that the present finishing vmachine may operate equally well on paper in the web as distinguished from sheets, and that in such a case appropria'te devices vwill `be provided to `feed the web of lpaper to and from the rolls 3 and 4.

The rolls3 and l are identical in character and each consists of a hard metal cylindrical body portion 4a, preferably chilled iron, covered by the marking element 4b which is partly shown in section in Fig. 1 on the upper roll. yThis marking element 4b may be a sheet of linen,'burlap. canvas, felt, paper, cardboard, semi-hard rubber, celluloid, leatl1- All) er or other c'omposition haviner an equivalent flexible character and in applying it to the metal roll 4* it is rst cut to exactly fit the periphery of' the roll and is then adhesively secured by glue or cement throughout lts entire area to the metal roll. The aim should be to make the marking element as far as possible an integral part of said metal roll,

and to prevent the possibility of any relative slip between the marking element and roll during the operation of finishing the paper. Preferably the marking element is made to completely surround the roll and the line llc in Fig. l indicates Where the ends'of the marking element abut in being applied and secured to the roll. Due to the manner of attaching the marking element, this abutting line which isthe only break in the continuity of the marking surface almost negligible and leaves little or no perceptible mark on the finished paper.

The hard, unyielding character of the rolls 3 and 4 serves to compress the flexible marking element into the surface voit' the paper in a manner 'very similar to the plating process. With the present machine, thepaper sheets may be fed to the nip of the rolls in rapid succession or in a web and thus greatly accelerate production over that previously obtained by plating. Furthermore, any desired change of pattern for the finished paper is as cheaply obtained as With plating, since only the marking element of the rolls needbe changed. These marking elements are generally inexpensive and may in some cases be destroyed `for removal from the roll Without prohibitive cost.

Another feature of advantage to note in the present machine is that'the paper may be finished uniformly throughout the entire area passing through the nip of the rolls and this makes unnecessary any subsequent trimming of the edges of the paper `asis very often necessary With other finishing inachines. It is also possible under the great Working pressure employed With the rolls to pass several super osed sheets simultaneously through the ro ls so that each will receive the impression of the marking member though, ofcourse, to a lesser degree, than when the markers act directly on a single sheet.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine for finishing the surface of paper comprising in combination, a pair of pressure rolls each of which includes a substantially inflexible non-yieldable body portion, a flexible and comparatively fragile paper marking element adhesively secured throughout its area to the periphery of one of said rolls so as to act as an integral part of the surface thereof, interengaging gears fixed to said rolls for driving them at the same peripheral speed so that any :frictional action therebetween suflicientto destroy the fragile marking element is avoided.

2. In a machine `for finishing the surface of paper comprising in combination, a pair of pressure rolls each of which includes a l substantially inflexible non-yieldable body portion, a flexible and comparatively fragile paper marking element, adhesively secured throughout its area to the periphery of one of said rolls soas to act as an integral part of the surface thereof, interengaging gears fixed to said rolls for driving them at the same peripheral speed so that any frictional action therebetween sufficient to destroy the fragile marking element is avoided, and means associated with said rolls for moving them apart to permit the removal from or the securing of a `marking element to the surface of either of said rolls.

In testimony whereof I have alixed my signature. y

JAMES SPEED. 

